UCLA Remains Top Rank in College Water Polo Rankings

The University of California-Los Angeles remains No. 1 team in the nation as the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) releases the 2016 Week 2/September 14 Men’s Varsity National Top 20, Division III Top 10, Northeast Water Polo Conference (NEWPC) Top Five and Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Top Five Polls.

The two-time defending National Champion Bruins acquire 99 points this week to just miss out on repeating as a unanimous No. 1 selection.  Whittier College retains is position as a uncontested No. 1 selection, however, as the Poets retain their position on top of the Division III Top 10 Poll.

2015 CWPA Champion Princeton University barely hold onto the top spot in the Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC) Top Five Poll as the Tigers on again edge out the Crimson of Harvard University for the first year league’s No. 1 berth.  Bucknell University becomes a unanimous No. 1 selection in the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Top Five as the Bison now hold a seven-point lead over runner-up George Washington University.

Voted on by a panel of coaches from the MAWPC, NEWPC, Golden Coast Conference, Western Water Polo Association (WWPA), Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF), Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the polls will be compiled and released on Wednesday during each week of the season through the week following the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship.

2016 Men’s Varsity National Top 20 (Week 2/September 14)

The 2014 and 2015 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Champion Bruins of the University of California-Los Angeles lose their position as the undisputed No. 1 team in the nation, but continue to rank in the top spot in the 2016 National Men’s Varsity Top 20 Poll thorugh games of September 12.

UCLA, which garnered 99 points, witnesses its margin over runner-up the University of Southern California (94 points) drop down to five points afer the Bruins held a six-point spread (100-to-94) last week. The University of California (92 points), University of the Pacific (85 points), Stanford University (81 points), the University of California-Santa Barbara (75 points), Long Beach State University (69 points) and the University of California-Irvine (57 points) follow at No. 3-to-8, respectively, as each program retained its Preseason and Week 1 rankings.

For the second week in a row, the final two slots in the Top 10 experience change. Pepperdine University (54 points), which held sole possession of the No. 9 spot in the Week 1 rankings, acquires company as former No. 11 Princeton University (54 points) and No. 12 Harvard University (54 points) crack the upper echelon of the Top 20 to create a three-way tie for the ninth position in the weekly voting results.

The rise of Princeton and Harvard causes a shockwave through the remainder of the Top 20 as the University of California-Davis (47 points) moves up to No. 12 with the University of California-San Diego (45 points) slipping to No. 13.

Brown University (39 points) retains its position at No. 14, while Bucknell University (31 points), California Baptist University (19 points) and San Jose State University (15 points) each ascend one slot to take over at No. 15-to-17, respectively.

Two newcomers crack the Top 20 as St. Francis College Brooklyn (13 points) and George Washington University (12 points) slide into the No. 18 and 19 positions with Santa Clara University(6 points) once again completing the Top 20 in the final spot.

Four other programs received votes in the Top 20 as Loyola Marymount University (6 points), Whittier College (5 points), the United States Air Force Academy (3 points) and the United States Naval Academy (4 points) also earning notice.

2016 Men’s Varsity Division III Top 10 (Week 2/September 14)

The Poets of Whittier College (100 points) remain a unanimous No. 1 selection in the 2016 National Men’s Varsity Division III Top 10 Poll through games of September 12.

Whittier, which had 96 points to top the Preseason Poll prior to acquiring a perfect 100 points after the first week of competition, leads a Division III Top 10 which more changes after 14 days of competition.

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges (94 points) holds at No. 2 with Pomona-Pitzer Colleges (88 points) eeking past the University of Redlands (87 points) to take over at No. 3

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (80 points) remains at No. 5 with Chapman University(73 points) shattering a tie with Johns Hopkins University to assume sole control of the No. 6 spot in the Top 10.

California Lutheran University (68 points) and the University of La Verne (62 points) both climb one position to take over at No. 7 and 8, respectively.  Johns Hopkins (58 points) drops back to No. 9 with Occidental College (44 points) concluding the Top 10.

Connecticut College (12 points) and Washington & Jefferson College (11 points) also received votes.

2016 Men’s Varsity Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Top 5 (Week 2/September 14)

Bucknell University, which rose to the No. 1 position in the Week 1/September 7 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Top Five Poll with 98 points, gains a more solid grip on the top spot after two weeks of action as the Bison are now a unanimous top choice with 100 points.

Bucknell, which wrenched control of the league poll from preseason favorite Johns Hopkins University last week, leads a conference that includes George Washington University , the United States Naval Academy, Gannon University, Mercyhurst University, Monmouth College, Salem International University, Washington & Jefferson College, Connecticut College, Fordham University, Wagner College and La Salle University.

The Top Five experiences no significant chances this week as George Washington (93 points), Navy (89 points), Johns Hopkins (71 points) and Fordham (64 points) continue at No. 2-to-5 behind Bucknell.

Six teams received votes this week as first-year varsity program Wagner College (33 points), which was unranked last week, is now in the conversation for a position among the MAWPC’s elite through two weeks of action.

2016 Men’s Varsity Northeast Water Polo Conference Top 5 (Week 2/September 14)

The first-year Northeast Water Polo Confernece (NWPC) continues to be Ivy-speckled through the first two weeks of the 2016 Men’s Varsity season as 2015 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Champion Princeton Universitycontinues to narrowly hold onto top billing in the group by a single point.

Comprised of Brown University, Harvard University, Iona College, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Saint Francis College Brooklynand Princeton, the NWPC is in its first-year of existence following a division of the CWPA into two men’s varsity conferences (Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference, Northeast Water Polo Conference) starting in 2016.

Princeton, which topped fellow Ivy League institution Brown 95-94 for the No. 1 spot in the Preseason rankings, increases its point – but not its lead – for the second week in a row as the Tigers edged the groups other Ivy League school, Harvard, 97-96 last week prior to topping the Crimson 98-97 this week.

Harvard, which was ranked at No. 4 in the Preseason voting and is tied with Princeton at No. 9 in the National Top 20 Poll, continues to breath down the neck of the Tigers with Brown (90 points), St. Francis Brooklyn (85 points) and MIT (64 points) continuing to pace behind at No. 3-to-5, respectively, in completing the Top Five.

Iona also received votes as the Gaels garnered 16 points.

Courtesy of Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA).